"They have decided to really play," said coach Christi Wood. "They have decided to step up their game and really win."

The attitude is born from a core of players who know they won't be Mustangs much longer.

Some will graduate as seniors. Others will leave school early to enroll in college programs.

And all share a zero tolerance right now for unexplained losses.

"When I get out there, I'm not losing. I'm sick of (it)," said Paige Mincey, who signed a basketball scholarship with Wingate (N.C.) University. "In basketball, you can only do so much. No one else can pull you down in tennis."

In basketball she dealt mostly with losses and double-teams.

As her team's No. 2 singles player, Mincey (13-1) has flourished.

No. 1 singles player Jenny Gomez and coach Wood knew she would when they "begged" her to continue playing.

Gomez, who is headed to Gardner-Webb (N.C.) University on a tennis scholarship, recognized Mincey as a key to helping the Mustangs get past the state quarterfinal hurdle.

That is the round South Effingham usually stumbles in.

"I was begging (Paige) to play," said Gomez, who is 14-0 this season. "Play or we won't go to the final four. I don't like to lose."

Neither do the boys.

And four players, though they are not seniors, know it's this season or bust since they will not return.

"We just want to make it good," said Chris Wood, who plays No. 1 singles. "We're determined as ever this year."

Wood, who is no relation to the coach, will transfer to a school in Memphis at the end of the season.

And three of his teammates, No. 2 singles Jason Soucy and the doubles team of Ross Friedman and Adam Steiner, will finish their senior years at college.

The trio will enroll next season at the Advanced Academy of Georgia at the University of West Georgia.

"It's a pretty cool concept," Soucy said.

What's not so cool is thinking about the end of their high school tennis careers.

That could be what prompted the boys (10-3) to a surprise 3-2 win over Richmond Hill in the Region 3-AAA championship.

"It was probably the biggest win of our high school careers, overall," Soucy said. "We all made a solemn promise to Miss Christi that we'd take her to Stone Mountain (site of the state semifinals and final)."

Even Wood, who has coached the teams for five years, is a little more triumphant in her step this season.

Last year, she was grieving the loss of her mother, Virginia.

This season, she sees tomorrow's promise in a group of kids making memories.

"We won't be happy until we get to the final four," Christi Wood said. "It's going to be interesting. Everyone is trying to work together to do what we have to do."